School lunch bills mount

Children eat regardless, though schools find creative ways to bill for meals.

ERIN MCCRACKEN / COURIER &amp; PRESS Cafeteria workers, Cynthia Walker, left, and Pam Wilson, right, help students get their lunches and check out of the lunch line at Lincoln School on Thursday. All students in the EVSC who go through the lunch line use a keypad to type in a PIN to pay for their lunch; this keeps from singling out students who may need assistance with paying for their lunch and are using the free and reduced lunch program. Area school districts differ in the ways they deal with students who don't bring lunch money to school. Some districts give students alternative lunches when accounts remain unpaid.

ERIN MCCRACKEN / COURIER &amp; PRESS Students choose fruit items served with their entree item as they go through the lunch line at Lincoln School on Thursday. All students in the EVSC who go through the lunch line use a keypad to type in a PIN to pay for their lunch; this keeps from singling out students who may need assistance with paying for their lunch and are using the free and reduced lunch program. Area school districts differ in the ways they deal with students who don't bring lunch money to school. Some districts give students alternative lunches when accounts remain unpaid.

Photographs by ERIN MCCRACKEN / COURIER &amp; PRESS All students in the EVSC who go through the lunch line use a keypad to type in a PIN to pay for their lunch; this keeps from singling out students who may need assistance with paying for their lunch and are using the free and reduced lunch program. Area school districts differ in the ways they deal with students who don't bring lunch money to school. Some districts give students alternative lunches when accounts remain unpaid.

Cynthia Walker hands a student a lunch tray as kids go through the lunch line at Lincoln School on Thursday. All students in the EVSC who go through the lunch line use a keypad to type in a PIN to pay for their lunch; this keeps from singling out students who may need assistance with paying for their lunch and are using the free and reduced lunch program. Area school districts differ in the ways they deal with students who don't bring lunch money to school. Some districts give students alternative lunches when accounts remain unpaid.